Pokémon Scarlet & Violet’s Charizard Tera Raid: tips, strategies, dates

Pokémon Scarlet And Violet’s first seven-star raid, featuring Charizard with the dragon Tera Type, is live, running through Sunday. Not only is it the first seven-star raid, but it’s the only way, so far, to get Charizard in Pokémon Scarlet And Violet’s Paldea region.

Charizard’s black crystal Tera Raid will close on Dec. 4, but will return from Dec. 15-18. While you can only catch one Charizard per game, you can do the raid multiple times — you’ll get one raid in your own game per day, but you can do it as many times as you want by joining other players’ raids via the Poké Portal.

This Charizard will have Lv. The Mightiest Mark will signify that the Charizard was caught during a seven-star raid. 100 It will also have Solar Power, Charizard’s hidden ability; perfect base stats; and the modest nature, which is ideal for Charizard. The rewards for the raid are really good, too, which is why it’s worth doing more than once. You’ll get a bunch of Calcium, the vitamin used to raise special attack EVs, as well as a chance to earn the incredibly rare Ability Patch, which changes a Pokémon’s ability to its hidden one (and vice versa).

Your Charizard raid can be found marked on the Paldea Map with a pink outline. This is similar to the six-star raids. If you’re not seeing the Charizard raid crystal showing up on your map, connect to the internet. (Don’t worry; you don’t need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to do the raid.) You’ll have to load up the Tera Raid Battles menu via the Poké Portal to try it more than once per day; you can either do this with friends as they host their own daily raids or with strangers online.

Only players who unlock six-star Raids can open seven-star doors. But people who haven’t done that aren’t out of luck: They can join these raids via multiplayer groups or link codes.

Azumarill (a high-level fairy-and-water-type) is one of the most effective strategies to use in the Charizard raid with seven-star stars. Because this Charizard has the dragon Tera Type, it’s weak to fairy-type moves; additionally, Azumarill resists Charizard’s fire-type attacks, thanks to its water typing.

We recommend Azumarill’s Huge power ability. Also, invest in your HP and attack stats. Give it Sitrus Berry so that it can heal itself during raids. It needs to know the move Belly Drum, which takes half the user’s max HP and maximizes its attack stat in exchange; you can teach your Azumarill Belly Drum via the new Egg Move method using the Mirror Herb item. After using Belly Drum in the raid, you’ll then want to use Play Rough, a fairy-type physical attack, to hit Charizard for supereffective damage. When it comes time to Terastallize, you’ll want your Azumarill to have the fairy Tera Type in order to further boost the power of Play Rough.

Be sure to have fun and cheer on your team members, as with all raids. It’s also a good idea to do the “Hang tough!” cheer to boost your team’s defense and special defense stats, since this Charizard hits hard. (It knows Overheat, Fire Blast, Hurricane, Sunny Day, and some dragon-type moves that won’t affect Azumarill; it doesn’t know Solar Beam, so you’re safe!) You can also teach your Azumarill Rain Dance to counteract Charizard’s Sunny Day boost to its fire-type attacks, but a word of caution: Hurricane, a flying-type special attack, always hits in rain.